Buck-boost ground leakage current power supply for wireless transceiver

ABSTRACT

A power supply, includes: a hot node coupled to a hot wire of an AC source, and a ground node coupled to an earth ground, where a neutral wire of the source is not present; a storage component, coupled to a return node and in series with a current limiter, where the current limiter enables the storage component to charge to a voltage while limiting leakage current to a prescribed value; a low voltage power supply including a buck-boost regulator, coupled to the storage component and to a return node that provides a reference voltage, where the low voltage power supply receives the voltage and generates an output voltage on an output node that is referenced to the reference voltage; and a wireless transceiver that employs the output voltage to transmit and receive messages from one or more corresponding wireless devices.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of the following U.S. PatentApplication, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

SERIAL FILING NUMBER DATE TITLE 16881950 May 22, 2020 GROUND LEAKAGECURRENT (FBQ.1014) POWER SUPPLY

This application is related to the following co-pending U.S. PatentApplications, each of which has a common assignee and common inventors,the entireties of which are herein incorporated by reference.

SERIAL FILING NUMBER DATE TITLE — — GROUND LEAKAGE CURRENT (FBQ.1014-C1)POWER SUPPLY FOR WIRELESS TRANSCEIVER — — GROUND LEAKAGE CURRENT(FBQ.1014-C2) POWER SUPPLY FOR MICROPROCESSOR — — BUCK-BOOST GROUNDLEAKAGE (FBQ.1014-CP1) CURRENT POWER SUPPLY — — MULTIMODE COMMISSIONING(FBQ.1015) SWITCH POWERED BY GROUND LEAKAGE CURRENT

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This invention relates in general to the field of building automation,and more particularly to a multimode commissioning switch that ispowered exclusively by chassis ground leakage current.

Description of the Related Art

Up until more recent years, most building control systems (e.g.,lighting, HVAC, etc.) were hard-wired. That is, signals for power,ground, control, and data were transmitted between controllers andsensors over physical wires. With the advent of low power wirelesscommunications technologies (e.g., IEEE 802.15, Zigbee, Bluetooth,etc.), many buildings are being retrofitted with wireless fixtures andcontrols, examples of which include, but are not limited to, wirelessLED lights, wireless switches, wireless occupancy sensors, wirelessdaylight harvesters, wireless thermostats and HVAC controls, and thelike. Many of these products, specifically LED lighting and associatedcontrols and sensors, allow building owners to significantly reduceenergy consumption by virtue of enabling technology (e.g., LED lightingpower requirements versus conventional fluorescent lighting powerrequirements) and remote/automated control over the internet.Accordingly, more and more owners are retrofitting their existingbuildings with these wireless fixtures and controls.

As one skilled in the art will appreciate, retrofitting a small- tomedium-size building is a significant endeavor involving both productand labor costs for, on average, most buildings have approximately threelight fixtures plus one light switch per 100 square feet, which is thesize of an average office. Consequently, the owner of a 50,000 squarefoot building would need to purchase and install approximately 1500 LEDlight fixtures along with 500 wireless switches. This is a significantinvestment and, thus, there is a desire in the art to reduce the cost ofthese wireless products and the labor required for their installation.

This disclosure addresses a well-known problem in the art, which hasarisen as a result of developers incorporating “smart” controllers thatare disposed in a conventional wall- or surface-mounted switch. Thesecontrollers may utilize wireless communications to sense movement of aphysical switch and turn LED lights on and off in accordance with switchmovement, or they may utilize power provided at the switch to controlother devices over a wired connection. As one skilled in the art willalso appreciate, more often than not, wiring for conventional switchesconsists of a hot wire from an AC power source, a switched leg wire thatprovides switched power to corresponding fixtures, and an earth (or“chassis”) ground. That is, no neutral wire from the AC source is wiredto the switch. In this case, the neutral lead from the AC power sourceis daisy-chained among the corresponding fixtures that are controlled bythe switch. Thus, any controller that may be disposed within a retrofitswitch requires a power source that is referenced to chassis ground and,as one skilled in the art will appreciate, chassis (or “earth”) groundconnections have “ground leakage” constraints imposed by type of circuit(e.g., ground fault interrupt) and regulatory agencies (e.g.,Underwriters Laboratories). These constraints limit ground leakagecurrent typically to less than 5 milliamperes—a value that does notsupport ground referenced power sources for any practicable smartcontroller that is disposed within the switch. This has been, andcontinues to be, as significant problem.

Numerous approaches have been fielded to overcome the above-notedproblem, the most obvious of which is to use a battery within the switchfor the power source. However, batteries fail—often at inopportunetimes—and must be replaced. Other approaches utilize transformers andtriacs to harvest power from the AC hot lead for use by a controller,but these approaches generally exceed the amount of ground leakage thatis allowed.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,365, Merwin et al. disclose an electronic powersupply that receives power from an AC hot lead and supplies power to aload that is reference to earth ground. The power supply stores energyin a “filter” capacitor that is coupled between the AC hot lead (througha rectifying diode) and earth ground. In addition, the impedance of thefilter capacitor is chosen to ensure that the ground leakage currentlimit is not exceeded, and the present inventors have noted thatutilizing the same component to store power and to limit ground currentleakage is disadvantageous because the impedance of the component alsolimits the amount of energy that can be stored for use as a powersupply.

In U.S. Pat. No. 8,928,188, Shilling discloses a power supply circuitfor a remote load and a local (in-switch) controller that includes aline (i.e., hot) connection receiving electrical power from an ACsource, a load connection that is hard-wired to the remote load, and aswitch that is located between the line and load connections. A lowvoltage power supply supplies power from the AC source to a controllerthat is employed to selectively open and close the switch. The lowvoltage power supply has an energy storage portion. The energy storageportion is coupled between the AC hot connection and a node. A currentlimiter is coupled in series between the node and earth ground. An earthground bypass portion is coupled between the node and the loadconnection. The other side of the remote load is coupled to a neutrallead from the AC source. The present inventors have also noted thatwhile the disclosed power supply circuit includes a current limiter inseries with the energy storage portion, and thus does not limit theamount of energy that may be stored, constant connection is requiredbetween the ground bypass portion and the remote load (and thus to ACneutral) to enable sufficient power to power the local controller,because the energy storage portion is unable to power the localcontroller on its own.

Accordingly, what is needed is a ground leakage power supply circuitthat is sized such that a remote or local load that is coupled to thepower supply circuit is sufficiently powered while simultaneouslylimiting ground leakage current below a prescribed value.

What is also needed is a power supply circuit disposed in a wall- orsurface-mounted switch that does not require an AC neutral line forpower, where the power supply circuit provides sufficient power for aprescribed period of time to a remote or local load, whilesimultaneously limiting ground leakage current below a prescribedthreshold value.

What is furthermore needed is a multimode switch that includes a groundleakage power supply and a local switch controller therein powered bythe ground leakage power supply, where the local switch controllerenables switching of AC line voltage to a remote load.

What is moreover needed is a multimode switch that includes a groundleakage power supply and a wireless transceiver therein powered by theground leakage power supply, where the wireless transceiver is employedto send and receive wireless messages to one or more correspondingwireless devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, among other applications, is directed to solvingthe above-noted problems and addresses other problems, disadvantages,and limitations of the prior art. The present invention provides asuperior technique for powering a multimode switch using only an AC hotwire and an earth (or “chassis”) ground wire, without requiring aneutral connection. In one embodiment, a ground leakage current powersupply is provide that include: a hot node that is coupled to a hot wireof an AC power source, and an earth ground node that is coupled to anearth ground, where a neutral wire of the AC power source is notpresent; an energy storage component, coupled to a return node and to arectifier, where the rectifier is also coupled to the return node andthe earth ground node; a current limiter, coupled to the hot node and tothe rectifier, configured to enable the energy storage component tocharge to a voltage at a rate that limits ground leakage current to aprescribed value; and a low voltage power supply including a buck-boostregulator, coupled to the energy storage component and to the returnnode, the return node providing a return reference voltage, where thelow voltage power supply receives the voltage and generates an outputvoltage on an output node that is referenced to the return referencevoltage.

One aspect of the present invention contemplates a ground leakagecurrent power supply, including: a hot node that is coupled to a hotwire of an AC power source, and an earth ground node that is coupled toan earth ground, where a neutral wire of the AC power source is notpresent; a rectifier, coupled to the hot node and to the earth groundnode; an energy storage component, coupled to a return node and coupledin series to a current limiter that receives rectified power from therectifier, where the current limiter enables the energy storagecomponent to charge to a voltage at a rate that limits ground leakagecurrent to a prescribed value; and a low voltage power supply includinga buck-boost regulator, coupled to the energy storage component and to areturn node, the return node providing a return reference voltage, wherethe low voltage power supply receives the voltage and generates anoutput voltage on an output node that is referenced to the returnreference voltage.

Another aspect of the present invention comprehends a ground leakagecurrent power supply, including: a hot node that is coupled to a hotwire of an AC power source, and an earth ground node that is coupled toan earth ground, where a neutral wire of the AC power source is notpresent; a rectifier, coupled to the hot node, the earth ground node,and a return node; an energy storage component, coupled to the returnnode and coupled in series to a current limiter that is coupled toreceive rectified power from the rectifier, where the current limiterenables the energy storage component to charge to a voltage at a ratethat limits ground leakage current to a prescribed value; and a lowvoltage power supply including a buck-boost regulator, coupled to theenergy storage component and to the return node, the return nodeproviding a return reference voltage, and configured to receive thevoltage value, and configured generate a regulated output voltage thatis referenced to the return reference voltage, where the low voltagepower supply receives the voltage and generates an output voltage on anoutput node that is referenced to the return reference voltage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a groundleakage current power supply installation according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting another embodiment of a groundleakage current power supply installation according to the presentinvention; and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram featuring a one embodiment of multimode switchaccording to the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary and illustrative embodiments of the invention are describedbelow. It should be understood at the outset that although exemplaryembodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, theprinciples of the present disclosure may be implemented using any numberof techniques, whether currently known or not. In the interest ofclarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described inthis specification, for those skilled in the art will appreciate that inthe development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementationspecific decisions are made to achieve specific goals, such ascompliance with system-related and business-related constraints, whichvary from one implementation to another. Furthermore, it will beappreciated that such a development effort might be complex andtime-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking forthose of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of thisdisclosure. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment will beapparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments. Therefore, the presentinvention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodimentsshown and described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel features herein disclosed.

The present invention will now be described with reference to theattached figures. Various structures, systems, and devices areschematically depicted in the drawings for purposes of explanation onlyand so as to not obscure the present invention with details that arewell known to those skilled in the art. Nevertheless, the attacheddrawings are included to describe and explain illustrative examples ofthe present invention. Unless otherwise specifically noted, articlesdepicted in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

The words and phrases used herein should be understood and interpretedto have a meaning consistent with the understanding of those words andphrases by those skilled in the relevant art. No special definition of aterm or phrase (i.e., a definition that is different from the ordinaryand customary meaning as understood by those skilled in the art) isintended to be implied by consistent usage of the term or phrase herein.To the extent that a term or phrase is intended to have a specialmeaning (i.e., a meaning other than that understood by skilled artisans)such a special definition will be expressly set forth in thespecification in a definitional manner that directly and unequivocallyprovides the special definition for the term or phrase. As used in thisdisclosure, “each” refers to each member of a set, each member of asubset, each member of a group, each member of a portion, each member ofa part, etc.

Applicants note that unless the words “means for” or “step for” areexplicitly used in a particular claim, it is not intended that any ofthe appended claims or claim elements are recited in such a manner as toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f).

Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of aground leakage current power supply installation 100 according to thepresent invention. The installation 100 includes an AC power source thatincludes a hot line and a neutral line. The hot line is coupled to a hotnode 102 within a ground leakage current power supply 101 according tothe present invention. The ground leakage current power supply 101 alsohas a chassis ground node 104 that is coupled to earth ground, an outputvoltage node 107 supplying an output voltage VOUT to a load 110, and areturn node 108 that provides a ground return RTN to the load 110. Inone embodiment, the nodes 102, 104, 107-108 may comprise wiringterminals within a wall- or surface-mounted switch.

In one embodiment the power supply 101 may also include a rectifiercircuit 103 that is coupled between the hot node 102 and the chassisground node 104 and between the return node 108 and a current limitercircuit 105. In another embodiment (not shown) the power supply 101 mayalso include a current limiter circuit 105 that is coupled to the hotnode 101 and to a rectifier circuit 103, where the rectifier circuit 103is also coupled to the return node 103 and the chassis ground node 104.In any of these embodiments, the current limiter circuit 105 maycomprise active components, passive components, or a combination ofactive and passive components. An energy storage component C1 is coupledbetween the current limiter circuit 105 and the return node. In oneembodiment, the energy storage component C1 comprises a capacitor C1that is sized to charge from rectified AC power to a level sufficient toallow for power to be supplied to the load 110 for a prescribed periodof time. In one embodiment, the capacitance of the energy storagecomponent C1 ranges from approximately 0.1 to 0.5 farads; however, thecurrent limiter 105 is configured to allow for any size energy storagecapacitor C1. Consequently, depending upon application, the energystorage component C1 can be sized to support large power surges forfinite periods of time. Exemplary applications that require relativelylarge surges of power include, but are not limited to, radios duringtransmission, microprocessors that wake up from low power mode to activemode, flashing of LED's, etc. The power requirements for theseapplications often exceed the allowable power that can be drawn from thedesired input power source, the AC hot line and earth ground.

Operationally, during every half cycle of the AC hot line HOT the energystorage component C1 is charged, typically not reaching its full voltagepotential due to the limited amount of current that is charging it;however, over several cycles charge will reach its full potential and,therefore, maximize stored energy. It is noted that the amount oftime/cycles required to reach full potential is a function of the sizeof the energy storage component. The current limiter 105 limits theamount of charging current provided to the energy storage component C1according to a prescribed limit. In one embodiment, the prescribed limitis 3 milliamperes. Another embodiment comprises a limit of 5milliamperes. Other embodiments are contemplated according toapplication of the ground leakage power supply

A low voltage power supply 106 is coupled to the energy storagecomponent C1. The low voltage power supply 106 receives voltage from theenergy storage component C1 and generates a regulated output voltageVOUT to the output voltage node 107, which can supply power to the load110 for a prescribed period of time. In one embodiment, the currentlimiter 105 is sized to provide a 3 milliampere ground leakage currentlimit, and the energy storage component C1 is sized to 0.47 farads andthe low voltage power supply 106 is configured to provide an outputvoltage between 3.0 and 3.3 volts to the load 110 at 25 milliamperes for1 millisecond, which is typical of that required for transmission ofwireless messages. Such a configuration would also allow for 47 secondsof providing VOUT at 6 milliamperes, which is typical of the currentrequired to operate a wireless radio in receive mode. It is noted thatthe duty cycle for charging and power draw by the load is approximately50 percent. This embodiment, and other embodiments disclosed herein areprovided to more clearly teach aspects of the present invention as itmay be tailored to a particular application; however, the presentinventors note that because control of leakage current does not dependupon the size of C1, C1 (and other components may be configured toprovide a wide variety of power supply voltages and burst currents.

In one embodiment, the low voltage power supply 106 comprises a linearvoltage regulator. In another embodiment, the low voltage power supply106 comprises a buck voltage regulator. In yet another embodiment, thelow voltage power supply 106 comprises a buck-boost voltage regulator.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a block diagram is presented depicting anotherembodiment of a ground leakage current power supply installation 200according to the present invention. Like the installation 100 of FIG. 1,the installation 200 of FIG. 2 includes an AC power source that has ahot line and a neutral line. The hot line is coupled to a hot node 202within a ground leakage current power supply 201 according to thepresent invention. The ground leakage current power supply 201 also hasa chassis ground node 204 that is coupled to earth ground, an outputvoltage node 207 supplying an output voltage VOUT to a load 210, and areturn node 208 that provides a ground return RTN to the load 210. Inone embodiment, the nodes 202, 204, 207-2108 may comprise conventionalwiring terminals within a wall- or surface-mounted switch.

The power supply 201 may also include a rectifier circuit 203 that iscoupled between the hot node 202 and the chassis ground node 204 andbetween the return node 208 and resistor R2. Resistor R2 is coupled toresistor R5 and to the collector of NPN transistor Q1. The emitter of Q1is coupled to resistor R3 and to the base of NPN transistor Q2. ResistorR3 is coupled to the output voltage node 207 and to energy storagecomponent C1, and C1 is coupled to the return node 208. Resistor R5 iscoupled to resistor R4, the collector Q2 and the emitter of PNPtransistor Q3. Resistor R4 is coupled to the base of Q1 and the emitterof Q3. The emitter of Q2 is coupled to the output voltage node 207. Thecollector of Q3 is coupled to the return node 208.

Resistor R6 is coupled to the output voltage node 207, resistor R7 andthe negative input of operational amplifier U1. R7 is coupled to thereturn node. The positive input of U1 is coupled to a reference voltageVR. The output of U1 is coupled to resistor R9 and R9 is coupled to thebase of Q3.

Components R2-R5, Q1, and Q2 are configured to provide a prescribedground leakage current limit, which is routed from the return node 208through the rectifier 203 to the earth ground node 204. ComponentsR6-R7, R9, and U1, along with the value of VR are configured to providea regulated low voltage to the load 210 via the output voltage node 207.

In one embodiment, the energy storage component C1 comprises a capacitorC1 that is sized to charge from rectified AC power to a level sufficientto allow for power to be supplied to the load 210 for a prescribedperiod of time. In one embodiment, the capacitance of the energy storagecomponent C1 ranges from approximately 0.1 to 0.5 farads; however,components R2-R5, Q1 and Q2 may be configured to allow for any sizeenergy storage capacitor C1. Consequently, depending upon application,the energy storage component C1 can be sized to support large powersurges for finite periods of time, as is discussed above with referenceto FIG. 1.

Operationally, during every half cycle of the AC hot line HOT the energystorage component C1 is charged, typically not reaching its full voltagepotential due to the limited amount of current that is charging it;however, over several cycles charge will reach its full potential and,therefore, maximize stored energy. It is noted that the amount oftime/cycles required to reach full potential is a function of the sizeof the energy storage component. Components R2-R5, Q1, and Q2 limit theamount of charging current to the energy storage component C1 accordinga prescribed limit. In one embodiment, the prescribed limit is 3milliamperes. Another embodiment comprises a limit of 5 milliamperes.

Voltage regulation is achieved using a hysteretic converter comprisingR6, R7, R9, Q3, and U1. A voltage divider comprising R6 and R7 alongwith VREF, sets the desired output voltage, VOUT. U1 may comprise avoltage comparator U1 having a negative (“−”) input that comprises apercentage value of VOUT, as determined by the values of R6 and R7. VREFcomprises a reference voltage that is coupled to the positive (“+”)input to U1. Accordingly, when the voltage on the negative inputincreases above VREF the output of the comparator U1 will be pulled toRTN, turning on Q3 through R9. As a result, Q3 will divert the basecurrent of Q1 thus turning Q1 off, which will halt charging of C1.

When the voltage on the negative input of U1 decreases below VREF, theoutput of the comparator, U1, will float. This will turn off Q3, and theresulting current to the base of Q1 will cause Q1 to turn on andcommence charging cap C1.

Now referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram is presented of a multimodewireless switch 300 according to the present invention. The switch 300may be disposed as a wall- or surface-mounted switch. The switch 300includes a switch controller 301 that is coupled to a mechanicalactuator 302 via a STATE POWER bus and a STATE bus. The switchcontroller 301 is also coupled to a wireless transceiver 303 via a COMMbus. The switch controller 301 is further coupled to a line voltageswitch 304 via an ENABLE bus. The line voltage switch 304 receives aline voltage (e.g. AC hot) over bus LINE IN and provides switching ofthe line voltage to a load side for powering of associated devices (notshown) via bus LINE OUT. The line voltage switch 304 may compriseelectrical elements (e.g., semiconductor switches, etc.), mechanicalelements (e.g., levers, actuators, etc.), or electromechanical elements(e.g., relays, solenoids, etc.). In one embodiment, the associateddevices may comprise LED light fixtures that correspond to the multimodeswitch 300.

The wireless switch 300 may also comprise a ground leakage current powersupply 305 such as is described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.LINE IN (i.e., AC hot wire) and chassis ground are coupled to the powersupply 305. No AC neutral is present. In one embodiment, the powersupply 305 is configured to provide a supply voltage VOUT that may beemployed to supply power to the switch controller 301 and wirelesstransceiver 303. In one embodiment, the value of VOUT is 5 volts.Another embodiment contemplates a 3.3-volt value of VOUT.

In operation, the switch controller 301 is configured to transmit andreceive wireless messages over a wireless network (not shown) accordingto a wireless protocol (e.g., Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15.4,ZIGBEE®, Z-WAVE®, BLUETOOTH®, etc.) chosen for intended application. Themessages may be transmitted/received between the switch 300 and agateway (not shown), between the switch 300 and a commissioning device,or between the switch 300 and associated wireless devices. In oneembodiment, control of the associated wireless devices is provided forby wireless messages generated by the gateway. In another embodiment,control of the associated wireless devices is provided for by wirelessmessages generated by the switch 300 operating under wireless operatingrules provided by the gateway. In yet another embodiment, control of theassociated wireless devices is provided for by wireless messagesgenerated by both the switch 300 and the gateway. Accordingly, in awireless operating mode, the switch controller 301 may assert STATEPOWER and then sense the state (e.g., open or closed, level of dimmingselected, light color, etc.) of the actuator 302 over bus STATE.According to chosen application, the switch controller 301 may eithertransmit messages to the gateway indicating state of the actuator 302 ormay transmit control messages to the associated wireless devices tocontrol their operation. In all modes of operation, when state of themechanical actuator 402 is changed (e.g., toggled, pressed, differentknob position, etc.), the switch controller 401 is configured totransmit messages over the network, via the wireless transceiver 303,indicating state change.

The mechanical actuator 302 may comprise any well-known elements of apresent-day light switch, dimmer, or selector knob, with additionalelements (if required) to couple to STATE POWER and STATE.

In a legacy line voltage switch mode, the switch controller 301 may beconfigured to direct the line voltage switch 304 to provide line voltageto the associated wireless devices over LINE OUT. When ENABLE is notasserted, the line voltage switch 304 does not provide line voltage tothe associated wireless devices. When ENABLE is asserted, the linevoltage switch 304 provides line voltage to the associated wirelessdevices. In this mode, the switch controller 301 may sense the state ofthe mechanical actuator 302 via STATE and may assert ENABLE when STATEindicates that the actuator 302 is in an “ON” state and may not assertENABLE when STATE indicates that the actuator 302 is in an “OFF” state.The multimode wireless switch 300 may also be configured to enter thelegacy line voltage switch mode as a default mode prior to beingcommissioned onto the wireless network, thus advantageously allowing forcontrol of its associated wireless devices via sensing state of theactuator 302.

When placed in either an autonomous mode or a commission and describemode, the switch controller 301 will assert ENABLE, thus powering on itsassociated devices to allow for discovery and commissioning. While inthese two modes, the multimode wireless switch 300 will not function asa legacy line voltage switch and will only switch line voltage to theassociated devices when directed to do so by commissioning devices. Inautonomous mode, the switch 300 is directed to switch line voltage viawireless message. In commission and describe mode, the switch 300 isdirected via wireless message to enable legacy line voltage switchingresponsive to actuation of the mechanical actuator 302.

The switch controller 301 may be further configured to broadcastidentifying information (e.g., unique network ID, device function,switch type, etc.) for capture by the commissioning device (or gateway),or may be configured to begin broadcasting the identifying informationresponsive to broadcasted commissioning messages received from thecommissioning device (or gateway).

Upon receipt of a message directing that the switch 300 performautonomous harvesting of its associated wireless devices, the controller301 may be configured to de-assert ENABLE for a prescribed time period,and then assert ENABLE, thus removing line voltage from the associatedwireless devices for the prescribed time period, whereby the associatedwireless devices transmit wireless messages to the commissioning device(or gateway) indicating they have been power cycled, thus providing forcreation of a functional device group comprising the switch 300 andassociated wireless devices. Following this, the switch 300 may be alsoconfigured to receive identifying information and functional groupdesignation for all of the associated wireless devices. Thereafter, thecontroller 301 may de-assert ENABLE and may subsequently control one ormore of the associated wireless devices via wireless messages using theidentifying information corresponding to the one or more of theassociated wireless devices.

Upon receipt of a message directing that the switch 300 performcommission and describe harvesting of its associated wireless devices,the controller 301 may be configured to de-assert ENABLE and thenmonitor STATE to detect when a technician toggles the mechanicalactuator 302. The controller 301 may then assert/de-assert ENABLEaccording to the state of the actuator 302 until the switch 300 receiveswireless messages from the commissioning device (or gateway) providingidentifying information and functional group designation for all theassociated wireless devices. Thereafter, the controller 301 mayde-assert ENABLE and may subsequently control one or more of theassociated wireless devices via wireless messages using the identifyinginformation corresponding to the one or more of the associated wirelessdevices.

The multimode wireless switch 300 according to the present invention isconfigured to perform the functions and operations as discussed above.The multimode wireless switch 300 may comprise logic, circuits, devices,or microcode (i.e., micro instructions or native instructions), or acombination of logic, circuits, devices, or microcode, or equivalentelements that are employed to execute the functions and operationsaccording to the present invention as noted. The elements employed toaccomplish these operations and functions within the multimode wirelessswitch 300 may be shared with other circuits, microcode, etc., that areemployed to perform other functions and/or operations within multimodewireless switch 300. According to the scope of the present application,microcode is a term employed to refer to a plurality of microinstructions. A micro instruction (also referred to as a nativeinstruction) is an instruction at the level that a unit executes. Forexample, micro instructions are directly executed by a reducedinstruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor. For a complexinstruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, complex instructions aretranslated by elements within the CISC microprocessor into associatedmicro instructions, and the associated micro instructions are directlyexecuted by a unit or units within the CISC microprocessor.

Portions of the present invention and corresponding detailed descriptionare presented in terms of software, or algorithms and symbolicrepresentations of operations on data bits within a computer memory.These descriptions and representations are the ones by which those ofordinary skill in the art effectively convey the substance of their workto others of ordinary skill in the art. An algorithm, as the term isused here, and as it is used generally, is conceived to be aself-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The stepsare those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities.Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form ofoptical, electrical, or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise, or as is apparent from the discussion,terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or“determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action andprocesses of a computer program product, a computer system, amicroprocessor, a central processing unit, or similar electroniccomputing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented asphysical, electronic quantities within the computer system's registersand memories into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within the computer system memories or registers or othersuch information storage, transmission or display devices. The devicesmay comprise one or more CPUs that are coupled to a computer-readablestorage medium. Computer program instructions for these devices may beembodied in the computer-readable storage medium. When the instructionsare executed by the one or more CPUs, they cause the devices to performthe above-noted functions, in addition to other functions.

Note also that the software implemented aspects of the invention aretypically encoded on some form of program storage medium or implementedover some type of transmission medium. The program storage medium may beelectronic (e.g., read only memory, flash read only memory, electricallyprogrammable read only memory), random access memory magnetic (e.g., afloppy disk or a hard drive) or optical (e.g., a compact disk read onlymemory, or “CD ROM”), and may be read only or random access. Similarly,the transmission medium may be metal traces, twisted wire pairs, coaxialcable, optical fiber, or some other suitable transmission medium knownto the art. The invention is not limited by these aspects of any givenimplementation.

The particular disclosed above are illustrative only, and those skilledin the art will appreciate that they can readily use the disclosedconception and specific embodiments as a basis for designing ormodifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of thepresent invention, and that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made herein without departing from the scope of theinvention as set forth by the appended claims. For example,components/elements of the systems and/or apparatuses may be integratedor separated. In addition, the operation of the systems and apparatusesdisclosed herein may be performed by more, fewer, or other componentsand the methods described may include more, fewer, or other steps.Additionally, unless otherwise specified steps may be performed in anysuitable order.

Although specific advantages have been enumerated above, variousembodiments may include some, none, or all of the enumerated advantages.

What is claimed is:

1. A ground leakage current power supply, comprising: a hot node that iscoupled to a hot wire of an AC power source, and an earth ground nodethat is coupled to an earth ground, wherein a neutral wire of said ACpower source is not present; an energy storage component, coupled to areturn node and to a rectifier, wherein said rectifier is also coupledto said return node and said earth ground node; a current limiter,coupled to said hot node and to said rectifier, configured to enablesaid energy storage component to charge to a voltage at a rate thatlimits ground leakage current to a prescribed value; a low voltage powersupply comprising a buck-boost regulator, coupled to said energy storagecomponent and to said return node, said return node providing a returnreference voltage, wherein said low voltage power supply receives saidvoltage and generates an output voltage on an output node that isreferenced to said return reference voltage; and a wireless transceiver,coupled to said output node and said return node, configured to employsaid output voltage to transmit and receive messages.
 2. The groundleakage current power supply as recited in claim 1, wherein said energystorage component comprises a capacitor.
 3. The ground leakage currentpower supply as recited in claim 1, wherein said current limitercomprises an active current limiter circuit.
 4. The ground leakagecurrent power supply as recited in claim 1, wherein said current limitercomprises a passive current limiter circuit.
 5. The ground leakagecurrent power supply as recited in claim 1, wherein said output voltagecomprises a value of approximately 3.3 volts DC.
 6. The ground leakagecurrent power supply as recited in claim 1, wherein said low voltagepower supply is configured to supply a 25 milliampere current to saidwireless transceiver for at least 1 millisecond.
 7. The ground leakagecurrent power supply as recited in claim 1, wherein said low voltagepower supply is configured to supply a 6 milliampere current to saidwireless transceiver for at least 47 seconds.
 8. A ground leakagecurrent power supply, comprising: a hot node that is coupled to a hotwire of an AC power source, and an earth ground node that is coupled toan earth ground, wherein a neutral wire of said AC power source is notpresent; a rectifier, coupled to said hot node and to said earth groundnode; an energy storage component, coupled to a return node and coupledin series to a current limiter that receives rectified power from saidrectifier, wherein said current limiter enables said energy storagecomponent to charge to a voltage at a rate that limits ground leakagecurrent to a prescribed value; a low voltage power supply comprising abuck-boost regulator, coupled to said energy storage component and to areturn node, said return node providing a return reference voltage,wherein said low voltage power supply receives said voltage andgenerates an output voltage on an output node that is referenced to saidreturn reference voltage; and a wireless transceiver, coupled to saidoutput node and said return node, configured to employ said outputvoltage to transmit and receive messages.
 9. The ground leakage currentpower supply as recited in claim 8, wherein said energy storagecomponent comprises a capacitor.
 10. The ground leakage current powersupply as recited in claim 8, wherein said current limiter comprises anactive current limiter circuit.
 11. The ground leakage current powersupply as recited in claim 8, wherein said current limiter comprises apassive current limiter circuit.
 12. The ground leakage current powersupply as recited in claim 8, wherein said output voltage comprises avalue of approximately 3.3 volts DC.
 13. The ground leakage currentpower supply as recited in claim 8, wherein said low voltage powersupply is configured to supply a 25 milliampere current to said wirelesstransceiver for at least 1 millisecond.
 14. The ground leakage currentpower supply as recited in claim 8, wherein said low voltage powersupply is configured to supply a 6 milliampere current to said wirelesstransceiver for at least 47 seconds.
 15. A ground leakage current powersupply, comprising: a hot node that is coupled to a hot wire of an ACpower source, and an earth ground node that is coupled to an earthground, wherein a neutral wire of said AC power source is not present; arectifier, coupled to said hot node, said earth ground node, and areturn node; an energy storage component, coupled to said return nodeand coupled in series to a current limiter that is coupled to receiverectified power from said rectifier, wherein said current limiterenables said energy storage component to charge to a voltage at a ratethat limits ground leakage current to a prescribed value; a low voltagepower supply comprising a buck-boost regulator, coupled to said energystorage component and to said return node, said return node providing areturn reference voltage, and configured to receive said voltage value,and configured generate a regulated output voltage that is referenced tosaid return reference voltage, wherein said low voltage power supplyreceives said voltage and generates an output voltage on an output nodethat is referenced to said return reference voltage; and a wirelesstransceiver, coupled to said output node and said return node,configured to employ said output voltage to transmit and receivemessages.
 16. The ground leakage current power supply as recited inclaim 15, wherein said energy storage component comprises a capacitor.17. The ground leakage current power supply as recited in claim 15,wherein said current limiter comprises an active current limitercircuit.
 18. The ground leakage current power supply as recited in claim15, wherein said current limiter comprises a passive current limitercircuit.
 19. The ground leakage current power supply as recited in claim15, wherein said low voltage power supply is configured to supply a 25milliampere current to said wireless transceiver for at least 1millisecond.
 20. The ground leakage current power supply as recited inclaim 15, wherein said low voltage power supply is configured to supplya 6 milliampere current to said wireless transceiver for at least 47seconds.